Combined push-button switch and tactual signal



} INVENTORS 34MM/ ATTORNEY Z 8 2 8 Z 3 A. 5 b .l 4 5 nlu nw m fi m miwbim 5 v I M 3 b i 7 O i r? 11 H i a i W -5 .w 1 m m //7//6 LJL .P A2,: 5,1Z SMANMWATZRJNWMFZ 6 b l Sept. 28, 1954 A. MARKS EI'AL COMBINEDPUSH-BUTTON SWITCH AND TACTUAL. SIGNAL Filed Oct. 27, 1950ALEXANDEFVVAFKS fiAV/D (AFL- LARSON Patented Sept. 28, 1954 COMBINEDPUSH-BUTTON SWITCH AND TACTUAL SIGNAL Alexander Marks, New York, andDavid Carl Larson, Yonkers, N. Y., assignors to Otis Elevator Company,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 2'7,1950, Serial No. 192,414

3 Claims.

The invention relates to control mechanism, especially for controllingelevator cars.

In certain types of elevator systems, the starting of the elevator caris under the control of an attendant in the car, with stops being madeat floors at which calls are registered. Also, the

attendant has control of the closing of the doors incident to startingthe car, the opening of the doors when a stop is made taking placeautomatically incident to the stopping operation. In such aninstallation, the attendant acts as a guard to obviate anyone beingstruck by a olos ing door, answers questions raised by passengers and ina great many of such installations registers calls for floors at whichthe passengers wish to alight. In certain instances, the control systemsare arranged so that they may be thrown over to non-attendant operation,that is, operation without attendants in the cars. In many of thesesystems, stops are effected automatically in' response to the calls thatare registered. In certain of these systems, however, the attendantinitiates stopping of the car at floors upon receipt of a signal givenas the car arrives within a certain distance of the floor for which acall has been registered. Such signal may be in the form of an impulseor vibration imparted to the hand of the attendant through the handle ofhis start control switch.

One feature of the invention is to provide a car attendants startcontrol switch connected by a flexible electrical cable through the faceof the car operating panel to the control circuits.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a car attendants startcontrol switch which maybe readily disconnected from the car operatingpanel control circuits.

Still another feature of the invention is to provide a control of thetype in which an impulse or vibrating signal is given the operatorshand, which is of simple construction and reliable and positive inoperation.

Other features and advantages. of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description and appended claims.

In carrying out the invention according to the preferred arrangement,the start control switch is provided with a casing of insulatingmaterial which serves as the grip or handle. The circuit controllingcontacts are arranged within the casing and are manually actuated by abutton protruding from the casing and biased to off position. Thesecontacts are connected by a flexible electrical cable to an electricalplug. An electrical' receptacle is provided in the car operating panelto receive the plug. This receptacle is connected to the controlcircuits so that when theplug is inserted, the start control switch isenabled to control the operation of the car in the manner desired. Agroove is provided in the casing by means of which the control handlemay be hung on a hanger when desired. Withthe plug-in connection, thestart control switch can be removed when it is desired to shut down thecar, thereby preventing unauthorized use. When employed in a systemarranged for changeover to non-attendant operation, the plug-inconnection enables the start control switch to be removed when onnon-attendant operation.

The invention will be described as applied to a start control switcharranged to receive a V1- brating signal. According to the preferredarrangement, the handle is of hollow cylindrical form and a coil isarranged longitudinally with-- in the handle. The operating buttonextends longitudinally of the handle and has a longitudinal extensionwhich is adapted to be struckby aplunger actuated by the coil. Thisplunger is biased to position disengaging the button. Upon theapplication of alternating current voltage to the coil, the plunger iscaused to vibrate against the extension on the button, signalling theattendant to release the button. Also, direct current voltage may beapplied to the coil instead of alternating current voltage, in whichevent, an impulse is given which may force the opening of the switch.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a car operating panel provided with astart control switch in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a detail in cross section of the start control switch ofFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail with parts in cross section of the plug andreceptacle; and

Figure 4 is a schematic wiring diagram of a portion of elevator controlcircuits in which the coil of the start control switch is connected.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 3, an operating panel in the elevatorcar is designated It. This panel has mounted in its face a plurality ofswitches such as a slow speed switch, motor generator starting switch,etc., which are indicated schematically by circles H. The variousconnections of these switches to the control circuits are made in backof the panel. The start control switch is designated I2 and is connectedby flexible cable Hi to the control circuits in back of the panel. Theconnection is effected cable which is inserted through the face of thepanel into an electrical receptacle of the bayonet type. The receptacleis mounted on a base IS in back of the panel so as to extend throughopening I! in the panel. The socket is connected to wires 18 in back ofthe panel. The exterior of the start control switch is in the form of agrip or handle and is provided with a groove [9 for hanging it on abracket 9 secured to th car operating panel.

Referring to Figure 2, the start control switch comprises a casing ofinsulating material within which is provided a pair of stationarycontacts 2! and 22. These contacts are secured to a mounting block 23 ofinsulating material held in place within the casing by positioningsleeves 24 and 25 of insulating material. Screws 26 are provided formaking circuit connections to the contacts. The contacts are adapted tobe electrically bridged by a contacting disc 21 slidably mounted on stem28 formed on the operating button 30, the button and stem being ofinsulating material. The disc 21 is biased against a snap ring 3| onstem 28, this bias being eifected by compression spring 32 surroundingthe stem and. extending between the contacting disc 27 and a guide 33 ofinsulating material for the stem 28. This guide is held by positioningsleeve 25 against a shoulder 34 formed inside the casing. The operatingbutton extends through an aperture 35 formed in the end of the casingand is biased to contact open position by a compression spring 36surrounding the stem and extending between guide 33 and the button.

An electromagnet 3! is provided within the casing 20 below mountingblock 23. This electromagnet comprises a coil 38 which is wound on aspool 43 in turn mounted on a sleeve 4| of nonmagnetic material. Theelectromagnet is provided with a frame 42 made up of end pieces 43 and44 and side pieces 45, the edges of the end pieces being rounded to fitwithin the casing. The frame 42 is held against positioning sleeve 24 bya third positioning sleeve 46 of insulating material.

The electromagnet 31 is provided with a movable core 59 which slidablyextends upwardly into sleeve 41 to near the top thereof. At its lowerend, the core rests on a stop plate 51 spaced from end piece 44 of themagnet frame by posts 52 and secured to the frame by screws 53 extendingthrough the spacing posts. The core is biased into position against stopplate 51 by a non-magnetic compression spring 54 surrounding the coreand extending between end piece 54 and a shoulder 55 formed on the lowerend of the core. The core when pulled upwardly by the energization ofthe electromagnet is adapted to engage an extension 56 also ofinsulating material on the lower end of stem 28. This extension passesthrough an aperture 57 in mounting block 23 and is of a length to extendinto the sleeve M as indicated by dot-dash lines, when the button ispressed downwardly.

An end piece 66 of insulating material is inserted in the lower end ofthe casing. This end piece fits against the positioning sleeve 46 tohold the parts in place and is secured to the casing by screws 61. Anaperture 62 is provided in this end piece to receive the flexible cable[3. A divided tapered clamp 64 is provided on the cable near its end andfits into the tapered extension 65 of aperture 62. This clamp is wedgedinto the aperture by a cap 66 threaded onto the lower end of end piece60. An aperture 61 is provided in the cap through which the cableextends.

The cable has four wires as indicated, two of these wires 68 beingconnected to the stationary contacts 2| and 22 by means of screws 26 andthe other two wires 10 being connected to the coil 38 of theelectromagnet. These connections are not illustrated in order that theconstruction of the mechanism within the casing may be more readilyseen,

It is preferred to connect the coil 38 of the electromagnet toalternating current supply mains, such arrangement being illustratedschematically in Figure 4 where the supply mains are designated WI andW2. The contacts ST in circuit with the coil are closed automaticallywhen the car reaches a certain distance from the landing at which a callhas been registered. Such call may be either a call registered fromwithin the car or a call registered from a landing or it may be only acall registered from a landing, depending upon the type of installation.In certain types of installations where both an up call and a down callmay be registered from each of a plurality of landings, it is desirableto stop the car on its upward trip at a landing at which a down call isregistered under conditions where no call is registered for a landingabove. In such systems, this is effected by the engagement of contactsHR when the car reaches a certain distance from such landing. When thecoil of the electromagnet is energized, the'core is caused to vibratewithin the coil, this vibration being transmitted to the button 30through the extension 56 of operating rod 28. It is preferred to connecta rectifier 15 in series with the coil. This halves the periodicity ofthe vibrations and increases their intensity, thus insuring a positiveforceful signal to the car attendant to release the button.

In operation, to start the car the attendant presses button 30, bridgingcontacts 2| and 22, the handle being gripped with the fingers and thebutton being pressed with the thumb. In systems where the start controlswitch controls the doors, the bridging of these contacts also effectsthe closing of the doors and the car starts as the doors reach closedposition. The attendant maintains the button pressed until a signal isreceived. Upon the car reaching a certain distance from a floor at whicha call is registered, contacts ST engage completing a circuit for coil38. As a result the core so is actuated to give a vibrating signal tothe button 30 through its stem 28 and extension 56. Upon receiving thesignal, the attendant releases the button and the car is caused to slowdown and stop at the floor.

The coil of the electromagnet may be connected across direct currentsupply lines in which event a single impulse is given to the button uponcompletion of the coil circuit. In such arrangement, the contacting disc21 may be fastened directly to the operating rod and thus be forced offthe stationary contacts by the upward stroke of the electromagnet core.

The provision of an extension cable for the start control switch enablesthe car attendant more effectively to guard the passengers againstclosing doors as he can stand over at the door opening and more readilyfollow the doors in closing. This is true whether or not the controlswitch is provided with vibrating mechanism. The groove in the handleenables the control switch to be hung up when not in use. When it isdesired to shut down the car or, in systems arranged for change-over toautomatic operation, when the change-over is effected, the plug iswithdrawn from the receptacle and. the

5 switch removed from the car, thus obviating unauthorized use.

The construction described is subject to considerable variation. This isespecially true of the details of construction of the control switchwhere the vibrating mechanism is not provided. The control switch may beused for straight car switch operation in which case the release of thebutton initiates the slow down operation instead of rendering mechanismactuated in accordance with car movement effective to do so. Thevibrating mechanism may be arranged in handles in which the controlmechanism is outside the handle. Also the rectifier in circuit with thevibrating mechanism actuating coil may be employed with other forms ofvibrating mechamsm.

Therefore, as many changes could be made in the above construction andmany apparently widely different embodiments of this invention couldbemade without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

i. In combination; an operating panel mounted Within an elevator car;circuits in the rear of said panel; a start control switch external tosaid panel, said start control switch hav ing a cylindrical casing,circuit controlling contacts arranged within said casing and a pushbutton member extending into one end or" said casing for actuating saidcontacts; electrical vibrating mechanism within said casing having anelectromagnet and a core for actuation by said electromagnet to impartvibrations to said push button member, said member having an extensionto be engaged by said core; and a flexible electrical extension cableconnecting said circuit controlling contacts and vibrating mechanism tosaid circuits.

2. In combination; a cylindrical casing; a pair of spaced contactsmounted in said casing; a

push button extending into the upper end of said casing and having 2.depending stem carrying a bridging contact for enaging said contacts,said push button being biased to position in which said bridging contactis disengaged from said contacts; an electromagnet within said casingbelow, said push button and having a coil Wound on a sleeve aligned withsaid stem; and a movable core for said electromagnet extending upwardlyinto said sleeve and biased to unattracted position, said stem having anextension adapted to be engaged by said core upon being pulled upwardlyby energization of said electromagnet.

3. In combination; a cylindrical casing; a pair of contacts mounted insaid casing; a push button member extending into said casing andcarrying a bridging contact for yieldably engaging said contacts, saidpush button member being biased to position in which said bridgingcontact is disengaged from said contacts; an electromagnet within saidcasing and having a coil wound on a sleeve aligned with said push buttonmember; a core for said electromagnet movable in said sleeve to engagesaid push button member upon energization of said electro magnet, saidcore being biased to position disengaged from said push button member; asource of alternating current; a rectifier; and means for connectingsaid coil to said source in series with said rectifier to causevibrative movement of said core by said electromagnet and thus theimparting of vibrative impulses to said push button by said core.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,223,527 Seeberger Apr. 24, 1917 1,559,312 Cadieux Oct. 27,1925 1,918,456 Dodge July 13, 1933 2,075,102 Eames et a1. Mar. 30, 19372,338,582 Hadsel Jan. 4, 1944

